Gestational Restraint Stress and the Developing Dopaminergic System: an Overview

Overview

Journal Neurotox Res

Publisher Springer

Specialty Neurology

Date 2012 Jan 5

PMID 22215534

Citations 21

Authors

Carlos J Baier

Maria R Katunar

Ezequiela Adrover

Maria Eugenia Pallares

Marta C Antonelli

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Prenatal stress exerts a strong impact on fetal brain development in rats impairing adaptation to stressful conditions, subsequent vulnerability to anxiety, altered sexual function, and enhanced propensity to self-administer drugs. Most of these alterations have been attributed to changes in the neurotransmitter dopamine (DA). In humans; dysfunction of dopaminergic system is associated with development of several neurological disorders, such as Parkinson disease, schizophrenia, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and depression. Evidences provided by animal research, as well as retrospective studies in humans, pointed out that exposure to adverse events in early life can alter adult behaviors and neurochemical indicators of midbrain DA activity, suggesting that the development of the DA system is sensitive to disruption by exposure to early stressors. The purpose of this article is to provide a general overview of published studies and our own study related to the effect of prenatal insults on the development of DA metabolism and biology, focusing mainly in articles involving prenatal-restraint stress protocols in rats. We will also attempt to make a correlation between theses alterations and DA-related pathological processes in humans.

Citing Articles

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Perinatal Psychoneuroimmunology of Prenatal Stress and Its Effects on Fetal and Postnatal Brain Development.

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